ViVaPiNaY

I got the Village Newsletter today. Read it first instead of the usual Philstar Newspaper. They have featured the different kinds of modus operandus which I want to share it with you. Believe me, I already discussed this matter with our 3 household help.

Our shop in Mandaluyong was once victimized by the Budol-Budol Gang. Good enough that it was early morning so wala pang sales. But still, they were able to get the company sun phone.

I suggest that you share these with the members of your household, office and your own community.

KOTONG OR SHORT-CHANGING
The common victims are foreigners, OFM's and their dependents who are lured into exchanging their foreign currency into pesos at rates higher than the prevailing price. During the scam, they money counted and re-counted while the perpetrator or his partner tries to distract the attention of the victim. The latter would find out only later about the shortage long after the rascals are gone.

DUGO-DUGO
This usually happens only when the master(s) of the house is out of the house. The maid receives a phone call with the voice-alike of the master or another member of the family relating that he is involved in an accident or is being held by authorities for an offense. The caller would instruct the maid to get as much money or valuables which she could find in the house for the hospital bills or bail to be posted. If the maid would express doubt about the caller's voice, the latter usually has the skills to give pressure for the former to eventually agree and follow instructions. The usual step is for the maid to meet a certain person in a designated place to hand over the money or valuables. The rest is sad history for the master upon his return to his house.

BUDOL-BUDOL
The potential victims are usually people who have just withdrawn money from the bank or those coming from the more affluent group. The prey is first approaced by a "probinsyano" (an innocently-looking person from the countryside) asking for help to buy something. He shows bundles of money to the victim and appeals for compassion. He would claim unfamiliarity with the style of urban transactions and is afraid of falling prey to criminal elements. A helper of the perpetrator, commonly called "urot", appears to help plead the case for the "probinsyano".

The victim would be promised an attractive percentage of the proceeds. More ploys would employed to gain his confidence. Once convinced, the victim would be asked to shell out 1/3 of the "probinsyano's" cash value as insurance.. The "probinsyano's" money is then locked in a bag and the victim's money likewise in another bag. The bags exchanged leaving the keys in the possession of the "probinsyano". The suspects then leave with the poor dupe holding a bag of worthless bundles of paper.

GOLD BARS
The tactic is for the syndicate to tell the victim about the story of World War II treasures plundered by the Japanese Army. Part of the plot includes a Japanese survivor or a Filipino laborer who has knowledge of the treasure's location. A genuine gold bar is then presented to the victim using the ploy that the treasures plundered by the retreating Japanese army are yet to be recovered. Using great skills through sweet-talk, the syndicate would negotiate for a price smaller than the claimed value of the treasure. Once the negotiation succeeds, the victim would soon discover that the genuine gold bar has been exchanged with a gold-plated lead bar.

FAKE RING
This scam usually employs minors who play the role of someone who accidentally picks up a diamond ring from the pavement. The right has a price tag indicating its value in thousand of pesos. The ring is actually gold plated with glass "diamonds". You can imagine the rest of the swindling act.

BUNTIS-BUNTIS
This is variant of the Fake Ring and Budol-Budol. A woman would claim being rape victim of her master. She would pretend stealing valuables from her master in retaliation and to pay for her treatment, transportation back home, etc. Another sad story for the dupe!

DELIVERY SCAM
The syndicate rents a house or office complete with signboards, telephone, fax machine, etc. Their usual targets are offices with slow-moving sales operations since they are easy to convince in accepting post-dated checks or POs. They make bulk orders of valuable items for delivery to the newly rented office. The agreed delivery date is on a Friday or Saturday. After deliveries have been completed, this will signal the start for the syndicate to move out of the area bringing with them the newly delivered items.

PYRAMID SCAM
This is common highly sophisticated form of luring people to invest their hard-earned savings. One should never get involved in any scheme that promises very high interest rates or returns on investments. It is not only illegal and a risky proposition. The victim unwittingly becomes part of the conspiracy.

LIPAT-BAHAY
A group of well-dressed persons roams inside subdivisions where they target houses that are occupied only at certain times of the day. Once they have surveyed the area and have confirmed that a house is without occupant, they would use a jeepney or van to divest the house of all its valuable contents. The group is so skilled and their movement well planned so that even the neighbors would not suspect anything unusual in their "hakot" activities.

AKYAT BAHAY
This literally means second-story artists. They possess the agility of scaling walls, perimeter fences, roofs, etc. They look for any opening as a means of entrance into the house proper. They go out with their loot thru the same path or thru the main doors of the house.

LAGLAG BARYA
This is a variant of pick pocketing and a common occurrence inside a public utility vehicle. A group of at least 2 people position themselves near their prey. One of them would drop on the floor some coins or pieces of valuable items. While the victim is bending over to help retrieve the coins or items, the others expertly get the victim's wallet from the back pockets. In case this technique fails and the victim starts to resist, the whole group would held up the victim at knife point.